By Brad Greer
Blake Pride scored six touchdowns while Mark Thornton added two more  scores as the 11&12 year-old Batesville Pee Wee team out slugged Calhoun City 55-43 in the opening round game of the playoffs Saturday afternoon at Robert H. Dunlap Stadium.

Batesville, the No. 6 seed, improved to 5-3 on the season and will take on No. 2 seed Greenwood in Saturday’s semi-final round with a site and time yet to be announced. Greenwood advanced with a 21-0 win over Sardis.
Pride gave Batesville its first lead at 42-37 with a 62-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Tigers extended its margin to 49-37 on Pride’s 47-yard scamper then sealed the contest with a 25- yard run with 2:28 left in the game. The drive was keyed by Wesley Chapman’s recovery of an onside kick.

Calhoun City led 25-18 at halftime and 37-36 after three quarters of play. Erik ‘Red’ Graham accounted for all seven touchdowns for the Grizzlies. Thornton added scoring runs of 61 and 20 yards coupled with a 40-yard kickoff return to the Calhoun City 20 to set up a nine-yard run by Pride late in the third quarter.

The Grizzlies led 18-6 in the second quarter before Batesville knotted the game at 18 on runs by Pride and Thornton.

9-and-10-year-olds
In other games, Batesville 9&10 year old squad remained unbeaten with a 12-0 win over Clarksdale Saturday morning.

Charles Wren got the Tigers on the board with a 22-yard run at the 7:38 mark of the second quarter. David Hubbard provided the other score on a 25-yard quarterback draw with four seconds left in the half. Michael Johnson registered a fumble for the Tiger defense.